Why Irish wellness entrepreneur Peigín Crowley endorses the new BMW iX …
“Meaningful” and “purposeful” is how Irish holistic therapist and wellness entrepreneur Peigín Crowley describes Ground Wellbeing, the sustainable brand she launched from her kitchen table in 2020. She now employs a staff of nine. Ground combines her expertise and a 20-year career in the spa sector as well as her own quest for hormone health and longevity. “I wanted to create a brand that focuses on rebuilding our at home relationship to help bring us back to ourselves and remind us of what really matters. Ground products and rituals are calming and restorative and created for men, women, and children, to encourage us to tóg go bog é; to take it softly; to mind ourselves, and to mind those that we love.”
Crowley does not take a one-size-fits-all approach. For Christmas, she is launching nine special gift boxes for those going through various life stages, from menopause to insomnia, as well as IVF and chemotherapy. These sets (from €35) uplift, support, comfort and encourage, with the help of gorgeous body oils, face masks and balms, bath salts and pillow sprays. The gift sets arrive beautifully packaged, combining style and sustainability. “We use recyclable glass, recycled paper and card, and we use ink and glue, and preserved blooms that are friendly to the environment. All our products are 100 per cent natural so they’re biologically absorbed and assimilated without any toxins.”
Peigín Crowley with her BMW iX at Hayfield Manor Cork.
When not fulfilling orders, Crowley is on the road, visiting the portfolio of five-star properties in which Ground treatments and products are found including Hayfield Manor, Cork, Mount Juliet, Kilkenny, The K Club, Co Kildare, The Europe, Killarney and The Shelbourne, Dublin. “I clock up 3,000 miles a month, but it’s made so much easier in my BMW iX, which I describe as a hover board – I zip around noiselessly,” she says. “Arriving at meetings my BMW iX not only impresses car enthusiasts and hotel concierges, the vehicle and company aligns with my professional ethos.”
Having researched the manufacturing process for BMW production, Crowley is impressed with BMW’s 360 sustainability strategy. This takes a holistic approach from ensuring transparency throughout its supply chain through to the reduction of CO2 emissions and reimagining how cars of the future will be made.
There are four key principles in their strategy explains Crowley. “Recycling, reducing, reusing and rethinking which all contribute to transforming their business into a circular economy. This is the ultimate aim of my own business – it’s inspiring to see a company with a clear mission.”
If BMW is taking sustainability to a whole new level within the motor industry, a key part of the strategy is to expand its range of electric vehicles and look beyond it. By 2025, there will be 25 fully electric models available – half of the company’s global sales will come from electrified cars.
Recycling is an integral part of this process. For example, almost no chrome is used in the manufacturing process. Instead, there is a high proportion of secondary aluminium and recycled plastic used, as well as FSC-certified wood, Castanea leather (derived from cactus) which is tanned using olive leaf extract, and even recycled components from fishing nets.
“I drove the BMW 330e plug-in hybrid until January, when I took possession of the iX, the company’s most sustainable car to date,” explains Crowley. “The BMW iX is a first class drive and a beautifully intuitive machine thanks to its state-of-the-art design. From adjusting seats to the correct position, and switching mode depending on mood – from sport to relaxation to hyper-efficient – it’s an intelligent car without being showy. The whole family loves it,” she says. “There’s a Max climate setting you can hit and straight away it just kicks in. The sound system is amazing, and my kids have loads of space in the back seats, with chargers of course! Every detail has been thoughtfully considered.”
“I am lucky as I also have one of the BMW Charging Cards, which allows me to charge at Ionity and ESB public charging stations. When you buy an EV from BMW you also can go to one of their preferred suppliers and have a charging unit installed at home. They have made a conscious effort to make everything as easy and convenient as they possibly can,” says Crowley “I am proud to be associated with a company which doesn’t just ‘do the sustainability thing’ but instead is transforming itself, through every area of the business, to make it sustainable.” www.groundwellbeing.com.
NEED TO KNOW: The BMW iX is available in two models, the BMW iX xDrive 40 and the BMWiX xDrive 50. The range of the iX is up to 613 kms (WLTP). At Ionity charging stations the battery can charge to 80% in 35 mins in BMW iX xDrive50, and 31 mins in BMW iX xDrive40. Did you know that world famous composer Hans Zimmer has designed the electric vehicle sounds, called BMW IconicSounds? Prices start from €94,925; available to order.